Silver Bullet
by sting12
Summary: Aristede captures Barnabas and shots him with a silver bullet. Will Julia, Quentin and Angelique be able to save him before it's too late?


Aristede smiled at himself for what was in store for Barnabas. He was supposed to trap Julia however trapping the vampire was going to be more fun. Plus Petofi wouldn't be back until it was all over. Since he knew he had a few more minutes before the vampire arrived, he went back into the room to double check his trap.

Barnabas walked through the woods going towards Petofi's place, anger and worry flooding his veins. He had just risen from his coffin when he found a note stating Petofi had taken Julia hostage. Immediately he rushed out of the house going to the cottage where Julia was staying. When he found it empty, he realized the note was true. As he entered Petofi's hideout, he rushed down the stairs finding Aristede standing there.

Barnabas grabbed him by the shirt, "Where is Julia!"

"Why would you think I know?" Aristede smirked.

"I know she is here!" Barnabas shouted, "Now release her or I will tear this place apart!"

Aristede held up his hands, "Easy, no need for violence. She's in that room."

Barnabas looked over at the closed door before he shoved Aristede away from him. He walked to the door flinging it open finding the room empty besides one chair. As he turned around and cried out from the cross that was in front of his face, he cursed. The note had been a trap to bring him here and now there was no escape. He tried to vanish but remembered that Petofi had taken away that power. Aristede came closer to him forcing him further into the room. As he felt the chair against the back of his legs, Aristede ordered him to sit.

Having no other choice, Barnabas sat down as Aristede put the cross around his neck keeping him in the chair. When he felt his hands being tied around his back, he noticed a gun set up in the corner near the door. Surely Aristede knew real bullets wouldn't hurt him. There was doubt in the back of his mind but knew there wasn't anything he could do besides hope that Julia or Quentin would find him. Before he could speak he felt a rag being forced around his mouth. Once it seemed the rag was secure, Barnabas watched Aristede attach a string from the trigger of the gun to the door.

"What do you think about my little trap?" Aristede asked, "You see when I leave and you're friends come they will open the door and you will be shot."

Barnabas rolled his eyes at the thought but began to wonder if Aristede was just doing this because he could. Either way, Barnabas knew there wasn't anything he could do. He could only watch as Aristede went out of the room, shutting the door gently. Left alone, he sat there unaware of how much time had passed. As he let his mind drift off into his thoughts, Barnabas was drawn back to the present when he heard Quentin and Julia talking.

When he saw the door moving, he shut his eyes as he heard the gun go off and felt the bullet entered his right shoulder. When he opened his eyes, he saw the shock on Julia and Quentin before they rushed into the room. Julia undid the gag and pulled the cross off throwing it across the room. Quentin untied his hands allowing him to get up.

"Are you alright?" Julia questioned.

"I'm fine, but how did you find me?" He asked.

"We were coming to look for you when we past Aristede commenting on what he had done." Quetin said from here he was looking at the gun, "Did he really think this would destroy you?"

"I think he was not thinking it through." Barnabas said.

Julia nodded, "I guess we can be lucky on that part. But how about we leave now before Petofi or Aristede come back."

Both agreed that they should leave as they quickly left Petofi place. On the way back to the cottage that Julia was staying at, they kept an eye on Barnabas to make sure he was alright. He assured he was fine since he hadn't felt any effects from the bullet. They quickly stopped asking since he seemed to get tired of it. Once they got to the cottage they went inside finding Angelique standing there waiting for them.

"Where in the world have you three been?!" She demanded.

Barnabas rolled his eyes, "Since when did you get concerned with our safety Angelique?"

"I was more tired of waiting here. I've been here a few hours at least."

"Well I'm sorry we kept you." He smirked.

Julia seeing that this could go on for a while spoke up, "We weren't here because Aristede set a trap for Barnabas."

Angelique stopped her rant as she turned her attention to Julia, "What?"

"Aristede trapped Barnabas with a cross and set up a gun that would shoot him when we entered the room." Quentin said.

Angelique looked at Barnabas, "Are you alright?"

"Don't look so concerned, you know regular bullets can't hurt me." Barnabas stated.

Julia spoke up, "I think we should get down to business and find out a way to destroy Petofi."

All three agreed she was right as they sat down. Angelique ran over the details she knew about Petofi while Barnabas talked about what Petofi wanted. Quentin knew they would have to keep Petofi from going into the future. Julia agreed but asked how they were going to do that. Their conversation went back and forth for the next hour each unsure how to start off deciding what to do. Quentin and Barnabas growing impatient began to pace back and forth. As Barnabas began to move, he realized there was a slight pain coming from where he had been shot. He knew the bullet shouldn't be causing him trouble.

He thought about asking Julia to have a look at it but knew it could wait. Their main priority would be to get Petofi out of the way first. As the second hour passed, Barnabas found the pain had doubled but he managed to keep it from the others. He knew if they noticed he was in pain they would worry more about him instead of Petofi. When he felt the room getting hot, he went over to the window opening it slightly.

"Why not use Julia as bait to get Petofi?" Angelique suggested.

Quentin spoke up, "Why would we use Julia?"

"Well Petofi wants to go to the future and Julia comes from there. That means he would want her more than any of us." She said.

Julia shook her head, "I'm not sure."

Barnabas said, "I'm not putting Julia in any danger."

Angelique looked to him, "I can assure you she won't be in any danger. Or have you forgotten I have powers of my own as well."

"I'm not forgetting anything." He stated, "But I will not put Julia in danger. Who knows if Petofi would sense you're magic around or not."

"We might have to take that chance." She reminded him before she noticed he was sweating, "Barnabas, are you alright? You're sweating"

Both Julia and Quentin turned their attention to him noticing he was sweating. Julia rushed to his side, "Barnabas!"

Quentin grabbed onto him, "Barnabas you're burning up."

"I'm fine." Barnabas said but was cut off by Julia who reached out to touch his forehead, "Quentin's right, this isn't normal. Especially since you are a vampire. Tell me how you are feeling."

"I'm hot and my right shoulder is burning." He stated.

Quentin looked at Julia, "It has to be the bullet."

"Get him to sit down." Julia instructed, "And take off his jacket and shirt."

"Come on Barnabas" Quentin coaxed him over to a chair before he began undoing his cousins jacket and shirt.

Angelique unsure what she could do to help stayed beside Quentin taking the coat and jacket from him along with Barnabas tie. Julia went into the other room coming back shortly holding her doctor bag. When she came back, all three of them winced at the sight of seeing Barnabas shoulder. Where the bullet had entered was red and swollen with some red veins protruding from it. It was at that moment Julia knew she had to get the bullet out and quick.

"Angelique go get me some water and rags. Quentin please hold him" Julia instructed.

Quentin got behind Barnabas holding onto his arms making sure he wasn't close to where the wound was, "I'm ready Julia."

"Barnabas, listen to me. I'm going to have to take the bullet out. I know it's going to hurt but I'll try to be quick as possible." Julia assured him.

Barnabas nodded, "I understand."

Quentin felt Barnabas tense as Julia dug into the wound first trying to locate the bullet. Barnabas tried to remain silent but soon had to voice his pain as Julia dug deeper into his shoulder. Angelique came back with the water and rags when she heard his cries. Setting the water down, she dipped the rag into water before she went to stand on Barnabas left side. Gently she wiped his face and neck down assuring him it would be over soon. Barnabas tried to smile at her but cried out instead as he felt Julia grab onto the bullet. Julia apologized but knew it was almost over as she made contact with the bullet. Once she had a good grip on it, she pulled it out before setting it down on the table.

Angelique expected the wound to close and the pain to go away, but she noticed Barnabas was still grimacing from pain, "Why hasn't the pain stopped?"

"I'm not sure it should have stopped as soon as it left his body." Julia shook her head unsure how to explain it.

Quentin picked up the bullet to examine it when he felt something rubbing off on his fingers. Setting the bullet down, he noticed besides Barnabas blood there was a silver tint to it as well. "This isn't a regular bullet."

"What do you mean?" Julia asked until he held up his hand revealing the silver tint, "It's silver." Her face paled at the words.

Angelique shook her head, "Why didn't it hurt him before now thought?"

Quentin took one of the rags wiping the blood and silver off, "The outside layer must have melted once it entered his system releasing the liquid silver. Julia is there anything we can do that will get it out of him?"

"If we were in the future yes, I could give him a blood transfusion. But here in this time, I know I don't have the proper equipment for that." Julia said.

Angelique spoke up, "I have away but I'm not sure if you will agree to it or not."

"What is it?" Julia asked knowing something had to be done soon.

"There's a potion that I could make that will draw all the liquid from his veins into his stomach. From there his stomach will force it out of his body by allowing him to throw it up." She explained.

"No there has to be another way." Julia objected.

"There isn't. You've already said there isn't anything in this time to help you, so the potion is his only choice. Look at him, he will die a slow and painful death if we don't help him soon." She stated.

Julia looked down at Barnabas noticing he was sweating worse than before and the bullet wound was still swollen, "Alright, what will you need?"

"I'm going to have to go out into the woods and find bloodroot, dandelion root, milk thistle and mint." She explained.

"Please hurry Angelique." Julia said before turning to Quentin, "Can you help him into the bedroom?"

"Sure, come on Barnabas." Quentin helped him up to his feet before leading into the bedroom.

While Quentin helped Barnabas into the bedroom, Julia grabbed the bowl of water and rags following shortly behind him. She prayed Angelique would be able to find the ingredients and quickly since she wasn't sure how long Barnabas would last. Hearing Barnabas cries caught off any future thoughts she has as she rushed in setting the bowl of water down. Quentin was there holding Barnabas down while his back was arched off the bed. Julia went to his side trying to get him to lay back down, feeling how hot his skin was. Quick as she could, Julia grabbed all the rags soaking them with water before she laid them on Barnabas chest, arms and wherever else she could. Once the cool water seemed to hit his skin, Barnabas collapsed back onto the bed as both Quentin and Julia let out a sigh of relief.

"Julia…please help me!" Barnabas cried out grimacing from the silver in his veins.

"Angelique is getting the supplies Barnabas, you have to hold on until she gets back." Julia spoke.

"Hurts…oh god it hurts!" He reached out grabbing onto Quentin squeezing his hand.

Quentin didn't wince as he felt his hand being squeezed, "Hold on Barnabas, help is coming."

Barnabas nodded but couldn't control the pain he was in as he continued to cry out causing Julia's heart to tear in two. She had only seen him in pain a few times but it was never easy especially now that she couldn't do anything to help him. No medicine she had in her bag would help him, only the potion that Angelique was going to make. Julia continued to keep the rags wet on Barnabas skin so he wouldn't continue to overheat.

That was how they spent the next couple of hours until Angelique entered the room gasping at how worse Barnabas looked, "I'll start on the potion right away."

"Please hurry." Julia ordered.

With that Angelique went out into the next room grabbing a bowl from the kitchen beginning to pour in what ingredients she had. Once everything was ground up into a powder, she poured in the water mixing it altogether.

When it was all done, she poured the potion into a cup coming into the room, "Hold him up."

Quentin gently lifted Barnabas into a sitting position trying to ignore the pain he was causing him. Once he had him steady Angelique came over coaxing Barnabas into drinking the potion. When he drank it all, she pulled the cup away telling Quentin to keep him up.

"How will we know if it worked?" Julia asked.

"It will start working in about ten minutes." She said.

Neither one said a word as five minutes passed, Barnabas hadn't reacted yet besides crying out in pain. They were starting to believe it was going to work. But as the ten minute mark came, Barnabas gave a heart wrenching scream startling them so much that Quentin almost lost his grip on Barnabas.

"Is that normal?" Quentin asked.

Angelique nodded, "Yes the silver is being drawn into his stomach. Julia grab a bucket please."

Julia left the room coming back quickly with a bucket placing it on the bed on Barnabas legs. A minute passed before Quentin tightened his grip on Barnabas as he began to throw up into the bucket. Barnabas grabbed onto the bucket tightly as his stomach continued to heave forcing the silver out of his body. As he continued to throw up, he squeezed his eyes shut praying it would end soon. Several minutes passed before he stopped vomiting and started to fall forward being caught by Quentin. Julia removed the bucket from the room before she came back. Angelique took a rag wiping off the silver from his mouth noticing it was burning his skin. When Julia came back, she reached out touching Barnabas forehead relieved that his fever was less.

"How do you feel?" Quentin asked.

Barnabas started to speak but couldn't seem to get the words to come. After a minute he finally was able to answer, but his voice was weak and raspy, "Better."

Julia seeing him wince gently had him open his mouth noticing it was burned as well, "Don't talk Barnabas." She turned back to Angelique, "Is it all over?"

"I can't be for sure." She remarked.

Julia looked stunned, "What do you mean?"

"I told you I haven't created a potion in years so we won't know for a while." She said.

"You mean we might have to put him through that again?" Julia asked feeling her anger rising, "Do you like to see him suffer?"

"Julia." Quentin tried to calm her.

Angelique ignored Quentin looking to Julia, "If I would have wanted him to suffer, I would have not helped."

"Then why couldn't you have gotten all the silver out?"

"Potions aren't 100% effective Julia. You should know that being a doctor." Angelique stated.

Julia started to respond but felt Barnabas grab her hand making her turn around towards him. As she looked at him, she knew it was his way to get them to stop arguing. Taking that as her que also to calm down, Angelique came over dipping one of the rags into the bowl of water before wiping his face and chest down making sure to be careful of the wound. Barnabas smiled up at her before his eyes started to shut. After they told him to sleep, Barnabas smiled again before he drifted off to sleep. Moving over to the window, Quentin looked outside noticing the sky was starting to get light.

"The sun is going to rise soon." He remarked.

"What are we going to do?" Julia asked, "There's no way we can get Barnabas in his coffin on time. Plus he's too weak to be moved."

"Leave that to me." Angelique stated before she shut her eyes beginning to chant in her native tongue.

Quentin and Julia stood back watching a blue light appear covering Barnabas from head to toe before it vanished. Angelique opened her eyes smiling at them both, "That will protect him during daylight hours."

Julia frowned, "I want to apologize for getting on you earlier."

"Don't worry about it, I understand completely." She said.

"I think you two should get some sleep, I'll sit watch first." Quentin instructed.

Both nodded leaving the room knowing Quentin would wake them if something changed. After they got comfortable in the spare bedrooms, both fell asleep right away. Quentin remained in the room watching over Barnabas while also getting up every so often to stretch. He wanted to look outside a few times but stopped not wanting to take the chance that Angelique's spell would keep Barnabas from being unharmed by the sun's light. As the morning went on, Quentin began to notice sweat appearing on Barnabas face and chest. When he reached out to touch him and noticed Barnabas was hot, he knew they hadn't gotten all of the silver out. Knowing he needed to keep him cool during the day, Quentin put all of the rags into the bowl of water, letting them soak for a few minutes. Once he was sure they were all soaked, he pulled them out letting the excess drip back into the bowl before he began to put them on Barnabas chest and forehead.

For the next hour or two, Quentin continued to repeat the process whenever the rags would get dry. Barnabas would mutter in his sleep but would quiet down when Quentin talked with him. Sensing that he needed to hear someone's voice, Quentin continued to talk to him about anything he could. He kept up the talking until he heard someone enter the room. Looking up he spotted Julia coming in stating that she could take over now. He nodded stating he was afraid all of the silver wasn't out of Barnabas system stating he had been running a high fever for the past few hours. Julia sighed deciding they would have to get Angelique to make more of the potion once the sun set. Angelique having just woken up came into the room stating she heard her name.

"Barnabas still has silver inside him." Julia explained as Quentin left the room to get some rest.

"I'm sorry, I wish it would have gotten all of it out the first time." Angelique frowned coming to sit near the bed.

Julia shook her head, "No need to worry about it now."

She nodded reaching out to replace the rag on Barnabas forehead, "You might not believe this but I do care for him. I've always hated seeing him in pain."

"Then why did you ever put the curse on him?" Julia asked, "He's been suffering ever since then."

"I don't know," She admitted, "I mean we went from arguing and then he shot me. I was in pain, scared I was going to die. I was angry and the curse came out before I knew what I was truly doing. I swear I tried to reverse it but it didn't work."

"He never told me that part." Julia frowned.

"He probably doesn't remember it. At the time he was half out of his head with fever." She stated.

Julia started to say something when she heard Barnabas muttering in his sleep. She turned her attention to him instead, speaking soothing words until he calmed down. Angelique helped put more wet rags on him to keep his skin cool. Both girls remained silent until the sun set when Angelique went into the other room grabbing the rest of the supplies from earlier. After she had everything mixed together like before she came into the room holding the cup in her hand. Barnabas just having woken up from the death sleep, tried to smile at Quentin and Julia but winced upon feeling the pain. As he saw Angelique coming into the room, he spotted the cup in her hand wondering it was.

"It's ready Julia. Quentin can you please hold him up again." Angelique asked.

Barnabas realizing it was more of the stuff from earlier shook his head, "Please...no…" He grimaced in pain.

"Barnabas you have to. There is still silver in your veins and if we don't get it out then you could die." Julia pleaded.

As he shook his head yes, Quentin came over holding him up while Angelique placed the cup to his lips. Barnabas began to drink the potion but had to stop a few times so he didn't throw it back up. He could feel how raw his throat was from earlier and knew it was going to burn again once the potion began to hit him. Ten minutes after he drank it, Barnabas grabbed onto Quentin as he cried out in pain, his whole body feeling like it was on fire. When he felt his stomach begin to heave, he bent over clenching his eyes shut from it. Angelique realizing they didn't have the bucket rushed to get one putting it in Barnabas lap just in time.

As Barnabas began throwing up the silver, he felt his insides burning worse than before hoping this was the last of it. Once he stopped heaving into the bucket, he collapsed back into Quentin's arms left weak and exhausted. Angelique took the bucket away while Julia wiped his mouth of any remaining silver. Quentin felt Barnabas forehead relieved when he felt no heat at all knowing it meant the silver was all out.

"I think it's over now." Quentin told Julia, "His fever is gone."

Julia reached out to see for herself, "I think you are right. Barnabas how do you feel?"

"Better." He said wincing.

Angelique sighed, "Then it means it's all over. But just rest for now."

"She's right Barnabas, I don't want you talking at least for a few days." Julia walked over to her doctor's bag pulling out the treatment she had been giving him before the accident happened, "I'm going to inject you with the serum Barnabas. It will keep you from wanting to go out and feed at least until you are strong enough."

After he watched her inject him with the serum he nodded letting them know he understood. As his eyes began to close, Barnabas heard others tell him to rest and that they would be there to watch over him. Knowing he was safe with them, Barnabas drifted off to sleep glad to know that he had friends that were sticking with him. And he knew once he got his strength back, he would stand with them to rid the world of Count Petofi.

The End.

8


End file.
